Acquisitions can transform your company’s growth trajectory and set you up for long-term success. You may choose to use acquisition because your organic growth has stalled and hiring additional sales people or investing in R&D will not not help you achieve your business goals. Acquisition is fast and opens the door to many new growth options by bringing […]

Are you keeping up with industry changes fast enough? Or are you being left behind? It’s no secret that technology is disrupting industries from manufacturing to telecommunications to retail. “…The risk of being left behind because of technological disruption and change is driving companies to make acquisitions faster,” Steven Davidoff Solomon writes in Dealbook. For many […]

Seeking growth amid a shifting telecommunications industry, AT&T has bet on media content. The company plans to acquire Time Warner for $85 billion in one of the biggest media acquisitions in history. The transaction will likely take over a year to receive regulatory approval, but both AT&T and Time Warner executives are optimistic. AT&T CEO Randall […]

Ford announced it would acquire Chariot, a shuttle-van startup based in San Francisco, in order to expand beyond auto manufacturing and become a mobility company. This is the first acquisition by Ford Smart Mobility, which was established in March of 2016 in order to focus on “emerging mobility services.” Ford reportedly paid $65 million for […]

The credit union industry is evolving. While many credit unions are consolidating through credit union mergers, others are seizing creative opportunities such as adopting cloud technology to improve efficiencies, focusing on underserved markets, and using partnerships and strategic mergers and acquisitions to grow and bring value to members. One interesting trend to note is credit […]

Valuation, establishing the financial worth of a company, is an important step of the acquisition process. People often get excited about valuation and start crunching numbers in order to reach the best deal. However, before you become too focused on the financials, remember that valuation and price are not the same. I have seen many […]

Middle market companies have faced many challenges to growth, but the tide is now turning. Previously, we had observed the dumbbell effect, where at either end of the spectrum massive corporations and small businesses flourished while middle market companies were caught in between. Unlike large multinational corporations, many middle market companies cannot leverage the same […]

“Why should I let you buy my company?” Chances are an owner will ask you this question during the course of your acquisition and you must have a convincing answer. While the strategic fit and benefits of an acquisition may be abundantly clear to you, an owner may not share your perspective. As a leader, […]

Capstone announced today that Green Dot, a telecommunications provider headquartered in Trinidad and Tobago, has entered into an agreement to sell a 51% stake to One Caribbean Media. The acquisition will allow Green Dot to accelerate subscriber growth and continue expanding into new markets. Capstone Strategic, Inc. (Capstone) announced today that Green Dot, Ltd. (Green Dot) […]

Remember that just because a deal is announced, it doesn’t mean it will go through. A record number of M&A transactions announced in 2015 have been cancelled bringing the total deal value down from $4.374 trillion to $78 billion. Unfortunately cancelled deals mean a lot of time, resources and effort were wasted putting together these […]

After hitting record-high levels in 2015, global M&A activity dropped significantly in the first half of 2016. It was the slowest first six month period for global mergers and acquisitions in the past two years. The value of deals decreased from $2.03 trillion to $1.65 trillion (19%) while the number of deals decreased from 22,153 […]

You’ve developed your strategy, identified the right markets, negotiated with the owner and papered the deal. If you think once you sign on the dotted line your job is done, you are mistaken. The M&A process doesn’t end when the deal closes. M&A is really a journey “from beginning to beginning” where the consummation of […]

On June 23 the United Kingdom voted to leave the European Union (E.U.). Many were shocked at the outcome of “Brexit” and the markets reacted badly. The day following the vote, the pound dropped down to the lowest level against the dollar since 1985, stocks in the U.K. and U.S. fell, and on June 27 […]

Consumer demand for healthy snacks is on the rise. In 2015, sales of conventional products were mostly flat (1.6%) while sales for specialty products grew by 6% and sales for natural products grew by 12.6%. U.S. natural and organic food and beverages sales also grew by 10.7% last year. Not only are consumers more health conscious, they are also snacking […]

Microsoft has agreed to acquire LinkedIn for $26.2 billion. This is a massive transaction in the marketplace and is the largest acquisition by Microsoft to-date. At $196 per share, Microsoft will pay a 50% premium over LinkedIn’s closing shares on Friday, June 10. LinkedIn will continue to operate as a separate entity. There is also $725 […]

Some might say the best time to pursue an acquisition is when the right opportunity comes along, but they’re wrong. The best time to pursue M&A is whenever you are ready. The best opportunities are those that you seek out proactively. If you wait around for opportunity to come to you, you may be missing […]

Recent analysis shows that deal activity reached $435 billion in the first quarter of 2016 in North America and Europe. This is the second highest total on record and 84% of the deals were executed by strategic buyers. Companies with lots of cash on their balance sheets and are now willing to deploy some of it […]

Think about the last time that you met somebody for the first time: a coworker, a friend, a romantic interest, or even a new barista at the coffee shop. When you first met this person, whether you consciously thought about it or not, you formed an impression of them, even though you didn’t really know […]

Pfizer and Allergan have announced that they are abandoning their $160 billion merger. This resulted from a political storm around tax inversions, a technique whereby US companies relocate abroad to avoid the high US corporate tax rates. The Treasury department took action to insert new rules that effectively killed the financial benefits of the deal. […]

You may be surprised I’m saying this, but vigorous arguments in your acquisition team can be a good thing. In fact, I would be alarmed if there was never any disagreement over a prospective purchase. Either someone is lying or afraid to speak up, unless your entire team is quite exceptionally in sync. Dissent can […]